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This is a first for me. I'm actually writing this post in response to a request that I got. (As a side note, I welcome requests from anyone--let me know if there's anything in particular you'd like me to talk about.) Since I wasn't sure exactly how to answer the request with direct monologue, as most of my posts are, I decided to give it in the form of a short story. While I certainly welcome any feedback on my writing, note that the point isn't literary excellence, it's merely to get the point across. And, no, I'm not trying to hide what I'm really talking about here--I expect it to be fairly obvious. I'm just writing it in story form because I feel it will convey the point better.

Jack was an eager and ambitious young man. He wanted to see the world. He wanted to get out of the small town he grew up in. He's always wanted this, since he was very young. His teachers would tell him about the different sights to see and the wonders of t…

So, roughly this time 2 years ago was when I first started admitting to myself that I'm gay. And I had no intention of ever coming out of the closet. It was a rather intimidating and scary thought. Now, I think it was all rather silly. I expect that our grandchildren won't really care one way or the other what someone's orientation is. And the phrases "coming out", "out of the closet", or "closeted" won't even exist anymore. People will have forgotten what it meant.

I wasn't ready to jump on the boycott Chick-Fil-A bandwagon when everyone else was criticizing them for donating to anti-gay groups. In fact, in this post, I stated all my reasons why I thought the boycott was silly. However, now that they themselves are declared as opposing gay rights, I can fully support the boycott.

This article covers the statement from Chick-Fil-A president Dan Cathy.This article talks about Lisa Henson cutting ties with Chick-Fil-A because of its anti-gay stance.

I have said many things about the LDS church that can easily be called "negative". I want to take this opportunity to establish a few key points on the matter.
1. I am not angry or bitter toward the church.
2. I do not have a personal agenda to discredit or defame the church.
3. I try to be objective, as much as I can.
4. I welcome feedback of any kind.
5. The church does good and bad things, and I see the value in acknowledging these facts.

In the past, I've been very hesitant to use the word "brainwash" (and its derivatives). And when I did use them, I was quite careful to make sure that I didn't say that Mormons really are brainwashed, merely that some of their behavior sort of led me to believe so. However, having read more on the subject, I feel that it is safe to say that yes, Mormons are brainwashed and that the LDS church does deliberately use mind control techniques in order to manipulate its members.

One important thing to remember, before you get too defensive and say I'm flying off the handle here, is that brainwashing doesn't necessarily mean all of the horrible things that we often associate with it. Mormons don't typically go out and kill big groups of people because of their brainwashing. (As far as I know, that's never happened.) And the brainwashing used isn't violent (again, as far as I know). It's merely the way that Mormonism keeps its members loyal to t…

I don't understand this. I really don't. I mean, yes, I know the claim that's being made. And I know it happens. And I know it happens all the time. That's what I don't understand. Why do people feel the need to take something someone else said out of context and use it to make them look stupid? Why is this such a popular tactic? Why does the American public fall for it, and even engage in and encourage it? I just don't get it. Will I ever live to see a debate that's an actual debate? Will I ever see a campaign where the discussion remains on the issues at hand? I haven't yet seen one.

Ok, so Obama said "you didn't build that" and the whole of Facebook is exploding with people criticizing him up one side and down the other for saying it. I'm not an Obama supporter. I most likely won't vote for Romney or Obama. I don't think that either one of those men represents my own ideals well. So, I won't vote for th…

I found this guy through YouTube, when I first saw the video of the temple footage that I linked to the other day. I've now watched several of his videos and I love him. He's so funny, he's full of good points, and I enjoy it thoroughly.

Anyway, I wanted to post this particular video because I have found in my own personal experience that it is quite true. With all of the Mormons that I have known and interacted with in my life (and that counts well into the hundreds, since I was a Mormon for about 28 years), nearly all of them have reacted like this. Once I start hinting at the fact that I don't believe in their church, or that they're wrong about God or anything like that, they get very defensive. They tell me that I shouldn't be so negative, that I shouldn't attack them. They tell me that I should let them live their life.

The truth of the matter is, I'm perfectly willing to let them live their life and do whatever makes them happy. I have …

If you don't like something I say or post on my blog or elsewhere, let me know. Don't tell my mom about it. Don't gossip about me. Don't spread rumors everywhere. Come to the source. Tell me what your issue is. Be mature. Be an adult. (Unless you're under 18, then you can continue to be a child for a few more years.)

I just sent the following in an email to everyone on BSA's website who had a listed email address. And I encourage everyone who believes in equality to do the same. I also recommend that you visit Scouting For All.

I really don't know who would be best to talk to about this, but these are all of the email addresses I could find on BSA's site, so I figure at least one of you will know where to send it.
I am writing to inform you that I am unpleased with the BSA's continual discrimination against homosexual people. I will therefore not be supporting the BSA in any way, and will do all that I can to discourage other people from participating in and donating time and money to your organization. And I will continue to do so until such a time comes as you finally accept homosexual people at treat them equally.
It is extremely important for young boys to feel like they have a place in the world, and I think the BSA has as one of its goals the desire to provide for boys t…

I am well aware of the fact that what I'm about to do might get me into a great deal of trouble with my Mormon family, and probably most of my Mormon friends too. I have thought about this carefully and I have decided that I think I really am doing the right thing by sharing this. I do have the comfort of knowing that my family pretty much doesn't read my blog anymore anyway, so if they do find out about this it will be from someone who tells them that I made this post.

Anyway, I came across a video the other day of someone who went to the temple and actually recorded the temple ceremony. That is available here. If you don't want to watch it, don't watch it. It's actual footage of the instructions on how to go through the veil of the temple at the very end of the ceremony. I still have the whole of this dialog memorized, since I did it myself well over 100 times in the 9 years that I was a temple-going member. This is the part of the ceremony that was taken …

To be honest, I can understand why the Framers of the Constitution included freedom of religion as one of the specific rights that they listed that should not be infringed upon. They were probably tired of the Church of England pushing itself on them as the official state religion of their mother country. And I would likely feel the same way. Which is why I don't like it when people try to say that America is a Christian nation. It's like they're just not understanding the concept of religious freedom.

But, at any rate, I just wanted to say that I think it's absolutely silly that we talk about freedom of religion so much, and that people abuse that "right" all the time. Yes, I do believe that people should be free to believe whatever they like. They can believe in a magical god that created the whole universe in 6 days if they want to. I really don't feel threatened by that, and until they start making it illegal for me to get married, they're…

I always find it amusing when people make statements like "The Founders didn't want...." or "The Founders believed...". Honestly. Do you really think that all of the Founders were united? That at that point in time they all magically agreed, and that it wasn't until just recently that we started having our own opinions? Give me any one specific issue, and I'm sure there were some of the Founders who were on one side of the issue and some on the other.

Brief history lesson for those who think they can speak for the Founders collectively. Not all of them wanted to declare independence from Great Britain and form a new nation. Not all of them wanted to have a Senate with the same number of senators for each state. Not all of them wanted a federal government. Some of them wanted the federal government to be sovereign, and others wanted states to be sovereign. They didn't all agree on every facet of the Constitution. Some of them didn't w…

As I was watching the fireworks Wednesday night, with my dear boyfriend and a couple friends, I had a very happy feeling. It was like an epiphany. If the phrase "to each his own" could become an emotion, that was the emotion that I was feeling.

What is so amazing about the concept of freedom? Why is liberty so wonderful? Because each person has different likes and dislikes. Each person has eir own opinions and beliefs. To make everyone fit one particular mold would be oppression. To maximize happiness for each individual and for the community in general, it's best to let every person follow eir own heart.

I am very vocal about my opinions and very passionate in expressing them. I debate endlessly with people, and more often than not the debate becomes personal and emotional. I might become extremely angry with someone who disagrees with me. But, the fact of the matter is, I really don't mind people who are different. I am not in the least bit bothered by …

Freedom isn't comfortable. We live in a world of comfort. I say this as I'm lying in bed typing on my laptop. We like soft beds. We like squishy insoles in our shoes. We like instant and fast internet access everywhere we go. And, I really don't think there's anything wrong with being comfortable, wanting comfort, and providing for others' comfort. But I do see many ways in which that interferes with freedom.

It's a lot easier to simply believe propaganda, or to do as you're told, than to stand for a cause. It's easier to go with the flow than to be a true freedom fighter. I think this is why people believe the stories about how the current war on terror is actually promoting freedom for US citizens. I think it's why people want to believe that our soldiers who are fighting in the Middle East are actually somehow preserving our freedom.

The truth is often inconvenient. We don't want to know that temperatures are rising globally. We …

Why is it so hard to let go? People say things that make it sound so easy. Some people seem to have the blessing of forgetfulness. Four years ago, I was in the hospital with Karen, while she was recovering from her surgery. Her doctor did something that all of us (me, Karen, and her mother) felt wasn’t right. I can’t speak for the other two, but I personally felt like it could be considered malpractice. Two weeks ago, when I was called in on jury duty, as I sat in the courtroom and listened to the questions that the judge and the lawyers asked the prospective jurors, I asked myself the same questions. One of the questions was something about whether you’ve had any personal experiences that you feel might make it hard for you to be objective on the case. This was a case where a patient was suing his doctor for malpractice. Immediately, I thought of this incident from four years ago. In fact, I’ve thought of it often during these last four years. And I came to the rather unfo…